I woke up thinking about myself as a consumer and how out of whack to my beliefs my spending has been this holiday season.
How while I am passionate about a great many things from animal rights to transparency of what is on our food labels, none of this is reflected in my holiday gift giving.
How the platforms for expression and certainly the capabilities of commerce have evolved dramatically but not it appears around charities, or better said, collective fundraises for common causes.
Our very culture has changed.
Never has it been easier to share our views. Feel connected to communities. Have instantaneous access to that which delights us personally and that which collectively terrifies and angers us as a society.
And never have the building blocks of commerce been so malleable. So easily integrated, so transparent and such a no brainer to us.
Add to that the ability to wire in data to our decision-making process and we have somewhat of a perfect storm of both opportunity and capability.
So I’m wondering while on platforms like Facebook where I’m fairly outspoken about many of the things that matter to me, I find myself discovering new brands in my feed and buying everything from comfy stripped socks to boxer shorts to widgets.
Yet while I view an infinite number of animal rescue videos so far this season I don’t think I’ve made a donation.
Why when I hail a car, it’s a push on my phone but to respond to the homeless as the weather chills I need to find an ATM and drop dollars in a cup or in the guitar case of a performer in the subway?
Why there is a such a gap between the technology and commercialization of commerce and the harnessing the same to collectively change things than matter on a softer social front?
Why we as a culture have flocked to support projects on Kickstarter yet not so to channel this into causes or even societal needs?
This post is rant wrapped in a dose of holiday sentiment yet I think real.
In the last few months, contacts within my networks have battled health issues. Have gathered in sentiment to support a popular wine writer battling cancer with collective hugs and genuine feelings.
Just yesterday in a NY Times editorial it became clear that Monsanto was going to win another victory in the gmo transparency fight.
I’ve gestured support for these from the heart but honestly done very little.
I’m wondering why.
Wondering about the relationship between want and action, between commerce and the things we as consumers should be able to easily support.
And whether this commercialization of the common good is not in many ways an untapped frontier for both innovation and for change.
Whether the gap is not technology nor the intent of the consumer, but the expertise of the organizations on how to do this.
Whether they really understand the very people that would love to support them.
Those of us that are marketers have long understood that in a world wired by social nets and where communities are the markets themselves, how we approach people has changed.
The key to community commerce is about the empowerment of the individual within a broader structure of the community. It is about a collective power manifested in the importance and control of each person.
Underwear and car manufacturers, Hollywood and the wellness market get this for certain. Apple of course as well.
The first thing we learn in business is to feel good about what we are charging for. Create value, position it as want not need, and to make people feel positive about themselves making the decision to buy it.
But when donations are asked for it always feels sheepish, always a bit uncomfortable, always a big ask—when indeed it should be a natural response.
To make a difference even when they do only what they can.
I’m fairly certain that on publishing this I will get emails from buddies that say all of this is already done.
Not so.
It is not the responsibility of consumers to search for anything. It is the job of businesses whether they sell widgets or fund raise for cancer research to get the opportunity in front of the right people in the right way and make it not only easy, but also empowering.
This opportunity is I think substantial.
The reality that companies selling stuff we wear understand this more than communities we belong to is a bit crazy.
That we use Uber to get around yet in New York fundraising can still be someone ringing a bell outside the Salvation Army on 47th street is truly a paradigm of contradictions.
This is something well worth changing that could make a really big difference.
